Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls at the Trafalgar Studios – Save Half Price
August 8, 2011
SPECIAL OFFER: Enjoy HALF PRICE on tickets to see Top Girls at the Trafalgar Studios in London
Suranne Jones in Top Girls at the Trafalgar Studios
Max Stafford-Clark’s new production of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls has transferred to the Trafalgar Studios in the West End following its critically acclaimed, sell-out run at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester.
The play features a hugely talented cast including Stella Gonet, Suranne Jones, Catherine McCormack, Lucy Briers, Laura Elphinstone, Lisa Kerr and Olivia Poulet.
Caryl Churchill’s modern classic is set in Thatcher’s England where hard-nosed, go-getting businesswoman Marlene is hosting a dinner party to celebrate her promotion to MD of the Top Girls Employment Agency. Her guests – all powerful women from myth and history – make for an extraordinary gathering in this provocative study of success, and what happens to those who get left behind.
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Top Girls tickets at the Trafalgar Studios starring Suranne Jones
August 1, 2011
Max Stafford-Clark directs Caryl Churchill’s powerful modern classic set in Thatcher’s Britain, starring Stella Gonet, Suranne Jones and Catherine McCormack.
Production photos of Betwixt at the Trafalgar Studios starring Ellen Greene
July 29, 2011
Production photos of Betwixt at the Trafalgar Studios, starring Ellen Greene.
Ellen Greene in Betwixt. Photo: Roy Tan
Legendary Broadway star Ellen Greene is currently performing in new British musical comedy Betwixt at the Trafalgar Studios in London.
Written and directed by Ian McFarlane, the show runs until 20 August at the venue and also stars Steven Webb, Ashleigh Gray, Benedict Salter and Peter Duncan.
In the show Greene, who is most famous for playing Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors in the West End, on Broadway and in the movie, plays multiple roles including identical triplets and Nymph Queen.
Photos by Roy Tan.
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West End Transfer For Max Stafford-Clark’s Critically Acclaimed New Production Of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls
July 12, 2011
SONIA FRIEDMAN PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS OUT OF JOINT & CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE PRODUCTION AT THE TRAFALGAR STUDIOS
Max Stafford-Clark’s new production of Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls is to transfer to the Trafalgar Studios following its critically acclaimed, sell-out run at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester. Top Girls, produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions, will run at the Trafalgar Studios from 5 August – 15 October 2011 with press night on 16 August 2011. Designs are by Tim Shortall with lighting by Jason Taylor, sound by Ian Dickinson and video design by Finn Ross. Stafford-Clark’s Out of Joint/ Chichester Festival Theatre co-production reunites him with producer Sonia Friedman, with whom he co-founded Out of Joint Theatre Company in 1993.
The cast is Stella Gonet, Suranne Jones, Catherine McCormack, Lucy Briers, Laura Elphinstone, Lisa Kerr and Olivia Poulet.
It’s Thatcher’s England and hard-nosed, go-getting businesswoman Marlene is hosting a dinner party to celebrate her promotion to MD of the Top Girls Employment Agency. Her guests – all powerful women from myth and history – make for an extraordinary gathering. A provocative study of success, and what happens to those who get left behind.
Stella Gonet plays Isabella Bird/Joyce/Mrs Kidd. Her television credits include the drama series The House of Eliott and Holby City as well as Mo Mowlam, and Persuasion. Her theatre credits include Racing Demon, Skylight, Hamlet and The Voysey Inheritance for the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company productions of Measure For Measure, Three Sisters and The Revenger’s Tragedy and Women, Power and Politics for the Tricycle Theatre.
Suranne Jones plays businesswoman Marlene. She has most recently been seen on television as DC Bailey in the new ITV1 detective series Scott and Bailey, playing opposite Lesley Sharp. Her other television credits include Vincent, Unforgiven, Five Days and Single Father as well as the role of Karen McDonald in Coronation Street which she played for over four years. Her stage credits include A Few Good Men in the West End, the touring production of Terms of Endearment and Blithe Spirit at the Royal Exchange Theatre.
Catherine McCormack plays Lady Nijo/Win. McCormack’s screen credits include Braveheart, Dangerous Beauty, Spy Game and 28 Weeks Later. Her theatre credits include an Olivier Award nominated performance in All My Sons, Honor and Dinner all for the National Theatre, the West End production of The 39 Steps, The Lady from Dubuque at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and A Doll’s House and The Portrait of a Lady for the Theatre Royal Bath and the Rose Theatre Kingston.
Lucy Briers plays Pope Joan/Louise. Her theatre credits include Behud for Soho Theatre, Bedroom Farce and Miss Julie for the Rose Theatre, Kingston, Ivanov at the Donmar and Wyndham’s Theatres, Some Kind of Bliss at the Trafalgar Studios, The Voysey Inheritance for the National Theatre and Cloud Nine, Teeth ‘n’ Smiles and Don Juan for Sheffield Theatres. Her many television credits include the role of Mary Bennet in the adaptation of Pride and Prejudice as well as The Night Watch, Einstein and Eddington and Silent Witness.
Laura Elphinstone plays Patient Griselda/Nell. Elphinstone’s credits include A Month in the Country for Chichester Festival Theatre, Tom and Viv at the Almeida Theatre, Pains of Youth for the National Theatre, Breathing Corpses and Country Music for the Royal Court. Her film and television credits include The History Boys and Tess of the D’Urbevilles.
Lisa Kerr plays the Waitress/Kit/Shona. Her credits include the Out of Joint productions of The Big Fellah for the Lyric Hammersmith and on tour, Andersen’s English for Hampstead Theatre and Mixed Up North for the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Wilton’s Music Hall and on tour.
Olivia Poulet plays Dull Gret/Angie/Jeanine. Her credits include recent roles in the television comedy The Thick of It, as well as the film In The Loop.
As well as Top Girls, Caryl Churchill’s plays include Cloud Nine, Serious Money, Far Away and A Number.
Max Stafford-Clark returns to Top Girls having directed its world premiere at the Royal Court in 1982. He was Artistic Director of the Royal Court from 1979 – 1993 and of the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh from 1968 – 1970. He co-founded the Joint Stock Theatre Group in 1974 and Out of Joint (with Sonia Friedman) in 1993. Among his directing credits are regular collaborations with writer Caryl Churchill, including Light Shining in Buckinghamshire, Cloud Nine, Serious Money and Blue Heart.
Top Girls opened at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester last month, where it runs until 16 July 2011 before its West End transfer.
Out of Joint is a theatre company acclaimed for producing and touring new writing. Under the directorship of Max Stafford-Clark it has premiered plays by David Hare, Caryl Churchill, Sebastian Barry, Timberlake Wertenbaker and many more, and launched the careers of such talents as Mark Ravenhill and Stella Feehily. The Out of Joint production of A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson will transfer to the West End in September.
Chichester Festival Theatre is one of this country’s leading producing theatres with a strong track record in commissioning and producing new plays and adaptations. Over the past five years, playwrights whose work has been premiered at Chichester include David Edgar, David Hare, Ronald Harwood, Mike Poulton, Ben Power, Lucy Prebble, Martin Sherman and Nicholas Wright.
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Being Shakespeare Starring Simon Callow Opens In London At Trafalgar Studios 1 On Wednesday 22 June For A Strictly Limited Season
May 6, 2011
Simon Callow will star in BEING SHAKESPEARE at Trafalgar Studios 1, opening on Wednesday 22 June, with previews from 15 June, running until 23 July. He brings to life Shakespeare’s unforgettable characters and the real man behind the legend in this new play, which comes to the West End for a strictly limited summer season after a hugely successful tour and staging at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe last year.
BEING SHAKESPEARE follows Simon Callow’s major international success with The Mystery of Charles Dickens (West End and Broadway) and his London sell-out hit Dr Marigold & Mr Chops. Simon’s many films include A Room with a View, Maurice, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shakespeare in Love and Christmas Carol: The Movie, and television includes Rome, as Charles Dickens in an episode of Doctor Who and Tom Chance in the series Chance in a Million. His latest TV appearance was in the Channel 4 series Jamie’s Dream School. His most recent stage roles include a hailed performance as Sir Toby Belch in Peter Hall’s sold out production of Twelfth Night at the National Theatre, and Pozzo in Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart and Ronald Pickup. He has written biographies of Oscar Wilde, Charles Laughton and Orson Welles. His autobiography, My Life in Pieces, was published last year by Nick Hern Books and won the Sheridan Morley Prize for Theatre Biography.
BEING SHAKESPEARE is a new play written by Jonathan Bate, the pre-eminent Shakespeare biographer and editor of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Shakespeare: The Complete Works. He has just been elected Provost of Worcester College and Professor of English Literature at Oxford University and is a Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. His book, The Genius of Shakespeare (1997), is widely held as the best modern book on Shakespeare, and his most recent book, Soul of the Age: The Life, Mind and World of William Shakespeare, was published last year.
BEING SHAKESPEARE is directed by Tom Cairns, whose theatre work includes Phaedra (Donmar), All About My Mother (Old Vic) and The Odyssey and Aristocrats (National), and produced by Ambassador Theatre Group and Act Productions.
Release issued by: Amanda Malpass Media
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Tracie Bennett to star as Judy Garland on Broadway: End Of The Rainbow to transfer
April 19, 2011
The acclaimed production of End of the Rainbow, currently playing at the Trafalgar Studios in London until 21May 2011, will transfer to Broadway.
Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow
The play by Peter Quilter will follow its London run with a UK tour before opening at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis on 18 January 2012. The show will then transfer to Broadway.
Tracie Bennett will star in the show, with her acclaimed performance as Judy Garland already creating a significant buzz in New York.
End of the Rainbow, which opened at the Trafalgar Studios in November last year, is directed by Terry Johnson and also stars Hilton McRae as Anthony, Stephen Hagan as Mickey Denes and Robin Browne as Radio Interviewer, Porter and Stage Manager.
The show enjoyed rave reviews from the critics when it opened in London. End of the Rainbow is set in London in 1968 and follows the drama of Garland’s final performances in London and her controversial life off stage.
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Last Chance To See Tracie Bennett As Judy Garland In West End Hit End Of The Rainbow
April 19, 2011
After a record breaking run at the Trafalgar Studios Peter Quilter’s End of the Rainbow must end on 21 May prior to a UK tour and US opening at the Guthrie, Minneapolis on 18 January 2012. The production will then transfer to Broadway, further details to be announced shortly.
End of the Rainbow, directed by Terry Johnson, stars Laurence Olivier award nominees Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland and Hilton McRae as Anthony. They are accompanied by Stephen Hagan as Mickey Denes and Robin Browne as Radio Interviewer, Porter and Stage Manager, and a six piece band.
The five star critically acclaimed End of the Rainbow opened in Northampton in February 2010 and transferred to the West End in November where it has received standing ovations at every performance since opening night.
Set in London in 1968 and featuring her most memorable songs including The Man That Got Away, Come Rain or Come Shine, The Trolley Song and Somewhere Over the Rainbow, End of the Rainbow combines humour and heartbreak to capture both the drama of Garland’s final performances in London and her controversial life off stage.
End of the Rainbow is designed by William Dudley with sound design by Gareth Owen, lighting by Simon Corder and musical direction by Gareth Valentine and is presented in the West End by Lee Dean, Jenny Topper, Laurence Myers, Charles Diamond and Hilary Williams in association with Royal & Derngate, Northampton.
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Photos: Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow
March 19, 2011
Photos of End of the Rainbow at the Trafalgar Studios in London starring Tracie Bennett as Judy Garland.
The acclaimed production of End of the Rainbow is currently playing at the Trafalgar Studios in London until 21May 2011. Written by Peter Quilter, Tracie Bennett puts in a critically acclaimed and hugely powerful performance as Judy Garland in the play.
End of the Rainbow, which opened at the Trafalgar Studios in November last year, is directed by Terry Johnson and also stars Hilton McRae as Anthony, Stephen Hagan as Mickey Denes and Robin Browne as Radio Interviewer, Porter and Stage Manager.
Set in London in 1968, End of the Rainbow follows the drama of Garland’s final performances in London and her controversial life off stage.
LINKS
SPECIAL OFFER on tickets to End of the Rainbow at the Trafalgar Studios
More news on End of the Rainbow
End Of The Rainbow To Extend West End Run Due To Public Demand
January 7, 2011
Following 5 star reviews for Tracie Bennett’s performance as Judy Garland, Peter Quilter’s End of the Rainbow will extend its West End run taking bookings at the Trafalgar Studios until 16 April 2011. Directed by Terry Johnson, End of the Rainbow combines humour and heartbreak to capture both the drama of Garland’s final performances in London and her controversial life off stage. End of the Rainbow, which opened in Northampton in February last year, transferred to the West End in November where it has been receiving standing ovations at every performance since opening night.
Set in London in 1968 and featuring her most memorable songs including The Man That Got Away, Come Rain or Come Shine, The Trolley Song and Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Tracie Bennett is joined by Hilton McRae as Anthony, Garland’s devoted Scottish pianist and musical director, Stephen Hagan as about to be husband number five Mickey Deanes, Robin Browne as Radio Interviewer, Porter and Stage Manager, plus a six piece on stage band.
End of the Rainbow is designed by William Dudley with sound design by Gareth Owen, lighting by Simon Corder and musical direction by Gareth Valentine, End of the Rainbow is presented in the West End by Lee Dean, Jenny Topper, Laurence Myers, Charles Diamond and Hilary Williams in association with Royal & Derngate, Northampton.
In her hotel room, with a new young fiancé at her side, Garland battles with drugs and alcohol as she undertakes an exhausting series of concerts at the Talk of the Town in a bid to reclaim her crown as the greatest talent of her generation. Despite a series of failed marriages and a ruined Hollywood career, she remains a tough and remarkable woman, armed with a legendary razor-sharp wit and a real understanding of the demons that possess her. Yet, within six months, she will be dead at the age of just 47, her body wrecked by the legendary amounts of drink & drugs she had been consuming since a teenager.
Multi award-winning Tracie Bennett’s extensive theatre credits include Jacqueline in Terry Johnson’s production of La Cage Aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre, and Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Role in a Musical. Her other theatre credits include Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre, Sex Chips and Rock n Roll for the Royal Exchange Manchester, High Society at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Guys and Dolls, Educating Rita and Spring Awakening all for Sheffield Crucible and a national tour of Billy Liar. On television she is best known for her role as Sharon Gaskell in Coronation Street. Her other television credits include Dalziel and Pascoe, Casualty, Vincent and The Royal. On film she played Millandra in Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine.
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Christmas shows in the West End
December 4, 2010
London’s West End is always a fun place to be at Christmas – whether it’s for the Christmas lights along Regent’s Street and Oxford Street, ice-skating at Somerset House, shopping in a very festive Covent Garden or seeing Santa at Selfridges.
The Snowman returns to the Peacock Theatre
And this year’s London theatre scene is more festive than ever before, with a range of seasonal shows for children, families and adults. Here’s our selection of some of the West End’s Christmas theatre highlights.
Children-friendly family favourites this Christmas include a revival of the critically acclaimed production of Dickens’ classic tale A Christmas Carol at the Trafalgar Studios (from 21 Dec to 8 Jan). It’s also your last Christmas to enjoy the wildly successful production of The Railway Children in the ingenious setting of Waterloo Station, featuring a real steam train. E. Nesbit’s classic children’s story has thrilled audiences from the moment it opened in London, and must close on 2 January.
Making a welcome return to the Peacock Theatre this Christmas is The Snowman, the magical stage version of Raymond Briggs’ much-loved children’s book. Suitable for children aged two and upwards, this is a captivating mix of dance, stagecraft and music – including Howard Blake’s beautiful “Walking in the air”, and featuring a live orchestra.
There’s also Panto fun this year in the West End as CBBC presenters Dan and Jeff take a madcap ride through the best-loved panto stories in Potted Panto at the Vaudeville Theatre (10 Dec to 9 Jan). This funny new family show, that went down a storm in Edinburgh in the Summer, speeds through an incredible seven classic pantomimes.
Matthew Bourne's Cinderella
For a bit of Glee-inspired fun then The Go! Go! Go! Show at the Leicester Square Theatre (until 30 Dec) promises lots of laughs and audience interaction for kids of all ages, in a story that sees five new pop stars battling it out, singing a series of brand new pop songs. Plus the intriguing sounding, sock-stealing ‘Fluffalope’ makes a guest appearance.
Much-loved cartoon characters are also making guest appearances in Theatreland this Christmas, notably The Gruffalo, who follows his monster-hit show last year with a run at the Garrick Theatre, featuring more songs, laughs and scary fun for children aged 3 and up (until 16 Jan). Also the chance to meet Santa Claus in a West End theatre comes in the shape of magical family show The Night Before Christmas at the Ambassadors Theatre, as his story comes to life in a new musical featuring songs, poems and story-telling (7 – 24 Dec).
If you fancy a great big Christmas sing-along this year then they don’t come much bigger than the Christmas Spectacular at the O2, which sees Myleene Klass present a rousing night of carols, traditional tunes and some cracking Christmas number ones on 23 December at the O2 Arena.
La Soiree at the Southbank Big Top
A wealth of dance productions promise to get you and your family into the festive spirit this year, including a brand new production of Matthew Bourne’s dazzling ballet Cinderella at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, set in London during the Second World War and played against Prokofiev’s haunting score (until 23 Jan). Also English National Ballet present a sumptuous new production of The Nutcracker at the Coliseum, created by Artistic Director Wayne Eagling to celebrate the Company’s 60th birthday (12 – 30 Dec).
Adult shows include a Christmas season for comedian Bill Bailey at the Wyndham’s Theatre, in his acclaimed show Dandelion Mind (until 8 Jan). Plus the stars of La Clique return to London with some new friends for La Soiree at the fabulously opulent new Southbank Big Top. Sexy and funny, this new show is full of awe-inspiring, spine-tingling, jaw-dropping and death-defying acts of circus and magic (until 30 Jan).
MORE INFORMATION
Listing of Christmas shows in the West End
Drama and comedy this Christmas
AND DON’T FORGET
- See the Oxford Street and Regent’s Street Christmas lights
- Go ice skating in central London at the London Eye Ice Rink, Somerset House Ice Rink, Winter Wonderland Hyde Park Ice Rink,
- Natural History Museum Ice Rink, Tower of London Ice Rink or the Broadgate Ice Rink.
- See the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree, donated every year by Norway.
- Visit Santa in his grotto and shop at the same time at the Harrods Christmas Grotto and the Selfridges Santa Express.
- Enjoy a traditional German Christmas market in London at the Cologne Christmas Market on the Southbank until 23 December.
